Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) said a report on the assassination attempt on former President Trump could be released by the end of the year.
The House of Representatives last week unanimously approved the creation of a special committee to investigate the assassination attempt on Trump, who was shot at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13. Asked on CBS’ “Face the Nation” whether it was “feasible” to have a report on the incident completed by the end of the year, McCaul said it was “possible.”
“I agree. I was there, I was on the roof. This guy should never have been that close to the president of the United States. He was very close. It was a mistake that he went there in the first place. He should have been stopped,” he told host Robert Costa.
“Robert, what’s interesting is he had detonators and he had two bombs in his car. His plan was to assassinate the president and then blow up his car on the other side of the compound as a diversion and then make his getaway,” he said.
McCaul said he didn’t know whether he would be part of the task force investigating the case, but would join if asked. He also said he was “pleased” that former Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle had resigned in the wake of the assassination attempt on the former president.
“I’m glad Director Cheatle made the right decision and resigned, just like Reagan’s Secret Service director did. The assassination attempt was a failure, he said so himself. I think the agents are excellent. The issue is the president is obviously under a lot of threats, including from Iran. They asked for additional agents and they weren’t given them,” he said.
The incident has raised concerns and questions about how a gunman was able to get close enough to the former president to open fire in the first place.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York) last week announced the creation of a bipartisan task force to investigate the assassination attempt on President Trump, who was shot in the ear by a gunman at a rally in Pennsylvania earlier this month. The gunman was aiming for Trump but was killed by a sniper instead.
